“The character Haman himself is reminiscent of Judas Iscariot. He was a scheming pretender who plotted against Mordecai, a faithful man of God. His attempts to betray and destroy Mordecai, even receiving payment to accomplish his task, is very much like Judas.
At the conclusion of the
narrative, we find him hanging from a gallows just like Judas”.
Chad Ashby
Regarding the Book of Esther, Chad Ashby
(2013) asks the question, relevant for a Christian: https://chadashby.com/2013/11/04/wheres-the-christ-in-esther/
“As a
good Christ-centered reader of Scripture, your question as well as mine should
be, “Where is Christ?” The total absence of “God”, “the LORD”, and any
other mentions of spiritual beings from this play might unnerve you”.
And he
proceeds to identify the Christic
element in the book:
Esther is one of those books of
the Bible you probably don’t read that often. If that’s true, it’s a
shame. Esther is perhaps the most entertaining, self-contained stories in
the entire Bible. It has all the makings of a great play: a cruel villian,
an oblivious king, a beautiful country-girl-turned-queen, a wise uncle, a [heroic]
underdog, plot twists, comedic irony, and a happy ending. Honestly, the
stuff of Esther is as good as any royal intrigue found in Shakespeare’s finest
plays.
For most of us, all we know
about Esther is that she won King Ahasuerus’ beauty contest to become his new
queen, and we might vaguely remember that she saved the Jews. Let me
briefly explain the plot…
The Drama:
Act 1
The story opens with King
Ahasuerus and his guests at a dinner party. His Queen Vashti stubbornly
resists his appeal for her to grace the party with her beauty, and in his
drunken stupor he vanquishes Vashti from her royal position. Immediately,
like an episode of [Pershia’s] Next
Top Model, the king sends recruiters into his vast empire to gather
all of the best and most beautiful young women for him to choose his next
queen. Esther, a Jew, charms his eye and wins the competition.
Behind the scenes, Esther’s
uncle Mordecai faithfully serves the king and guides Esther. He uncovers a
plot by two eunuchs to assassinate the king (I know, eunuchs–who woulda thought!). During
the story, Haman, the villainous foe, is promoted to the right hand of the
king. Haman has it out for Mordecai because he will not bow before
him. In childish fury, he decides that not only Mordecai, but the entire
Jewish people will be utterly destroyed for his indiscretion.
Act 2
Haman hatches a plot to destroy
the Jews. He goes to the King, and using very vague language encourages
the fatheaded King to decree that all Jews be annihilated because according to
Haman, “Their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do
not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not to the king’s profit to tolerate
them.” The king blindly obeys; he and Haman sit down to a quiet afternoon
drink while the rest of the town is thrown into absolute confusion.
Mordecai calls upon Esther with
the alarming news, and he encourages her to use her leverage as queen to
influence the gullible buffoon she is married to so that the Jews might be
saved. Esther agrees. Risking her life, she approaches the king
uninvited but finds favor. She invites him and Haman to a banquet,
thinking she will broach the issue once the king is in good spirits and
well-fed.
Act 3
Meanwhile, Haman’s rage against
Mordecai becomes so palatable that he cannot wait until the designated day to
destroy him, but goes home and builds a 75-foot-tall gallows to hang
Mordecai. That night, the king asks for a bedtime story, and one of the
royal officials reads to him from the chronicles of the kingdom–the best sleep
aid available at the time. By chance, the king is reminded of the time
when Mordecai blew the whistle on the eunuch conspiracy against him. He
asks, “Has this man been rewarded?” To his dismay, Mordecai wasn’t even
sent a “thank-you” card.
The next day, as Haman huffs into
the castle to ask to hang Mordecai on the gallows, the king invites him quickly
in and asks, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to
honor?” Straightening his robe and throwing back his shoulders in smug
delight, Haman says, “For me–I mean, the man–whom the king delights to honor,
let royal robes be placed on him and a royal crown set on his head, and let him
be led on the king’s horse through the public square, and let an official
declare his honor to everyone.”
In response, the king says,
“That sounds great, Haman. Everything you just said, go and do for
Mordecai.” The humiliation, irony, and comedic twist are so delicious you
can taste it!
Act 4
That evening, Esther’s party is
in full swing. On the second day of the festivities, Esther lets the cat
out of the bag: someone is trying to kill her! In fact a certain man is
seeking to annihilate her entire people. The king, still oblivious as all
get out, cries, “Who is it!?” She replies with accusing finger drawn, “A
foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” As the blood drains from Haman’s
face, the king turns to him in rage. It’s at this very moment that another
one of the king’s mischievous eunuchs reminds the king about the lofty gallows
constructed in Haaman’s backyard. “Hang him on that!” the king exclaims.
Act 5
In the ensuing drama, the Jews
are granted the means to defend themselves from the onslaught of the empire,
and in surprising fashion, these underdogs slaughtered 75,000 of their
foes. The story ends with a victory for the Jews, Esther at the king’s
side, and Mordecai elevated to the second highest office in the kingdom!
But Where’s the Christ?
As a good Christ-centered reader
of Scripture, your question as well as mine should be, “Where is Christ?” The
total absence of “God”, “the LORD”, and any other mentions of spiritual beings
from this play might unnerve you. However, several moments in particular
betray that this entire story is actually all about Christ.
First, in chapter 3, there is a
pivotal moment in the drama where the king gives Haman the right to destroy the
Jews. In verse 11 these are his exact words, “And the king said to Haman,
‘The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good
to you.’” This passive king betrays Israel into the hands of a wicked,
scheming, and vile villain. Haman’s purpose, as revealed earlier in
chapter 3, is “to destroy all the Jews.” I cannot help but hear in King
Ahasuerus’ words an echo from the passion narrative. Another Gentile
ruler, by the name of Pilate, when he had the authority to protect the True
Israel, instead passively uttered those fateful words, “I am innocent of this
man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” When each man had the power to vindicate
Israel, he chose to [defer] to the wicked.
The character Haman himself is reminiscent
of Judas Iscariot. He was a scheming pretender who plotted against Mordecai,
a faithful man of God. His attempts to betray and destroy Mordecai, even
receiving payment to accomplish his task, is very much like Judas. At the
conclusion of the narrative, we find him hanging from a gallows just like
Judas.
Mordecai’s ride around the town
square on the king’s horse just days before the proclaimed execution of all
Israel has to remind us at least a little bit of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem
riding a lowly donkey. In fact, Mordecai’s refusal to bow before Haman
reminds us of Christ’s unwillingness to bow before Satan in the
wilderness.
Though the infuriated Haman
sought to destroy him, Mordecai was vindicated, and he rose to the right hand
of the king–just as Jesus would do many years later.
The real kicker, however, lies
with Mordecai. After hearing the proclamation of the destruction of the
Jewish nation, he still has hope. Listen to what he tells Esther in 4:14,
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the
Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And
who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as
this?” Most of us know the second half of this verse, but the first part
is the key. Mordecai has faith that God will sustain and deliver the seed
of Abraham.
That is what this entire drama
is all about. Satan and the Kingdom of Darkness are making another attempt
to destroy the seed of Abraham before the Messiah has a chance to appear. That
is why Esther is all about Christ. It is all about how God protected and
delivered the seed of Abraham from attacks on all sides. It is about how
God used a woman like Esther and a man like Mordecai to overcome Satan’s
vicious attempts to destroy God’s Plan of salvation. On the cross, we see
Satan’s last lunging effort to pierce through and destroy the True Seed of
Abraham. Even as he slew the Messiah, the blessing of Abraham finally came
pouring forth from His open side. Neither, Haman, Judas, or Satan could
make God a liar. His promise to bless all nations through the Messiah came
true in Jesus Christ, and Esther is another exciting chapter about how God made
it happen. ....
For further comparisons
between Mordecai and Jesus Christ (the ‘New Adam’), and between Queen Esther and
the Virgin Mary (the ‘New Eve’), see my book:
Related to this,
for Mary as the ‘New Eve’, see my article:
'The Marian
Dimension'. Part Two: The “New Eve”
and:
For Haman (Aman)
identified as a Jewish king, Amon (Aman), see e.g. my article:
'Taking aim
on' king Amon - such a wicked king of Judah
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